Pop culture, deaths, sports, nostalgia among most-read 2013 stories

Tuesday

Dec 31, 2013 at 2:00 PM

By Daily Telegram staff

A quick look at the most-read stories in 2013 at The Daily Telegram’s website, www.lenconnect.com, shows that readers want to know about crimes, crashes and fires. Of the top 10 stories on that list, all are about what many would consider “bad news.”

So this year we present two lists: one on police and fire stories, and one on everything else. In the “everything else” list, Hollywood’s summertime visit led the way, with the filming of a scene for the “Transformers 4” movie placing four stories in the top 11. Here are the top non-“bad news” stories from 2013, with pageviews through Friday:

1. ‘Transformers’ to complete movie shoot next week (July 2): 6,1782. ‘Transformers 4’ to shoot scene in Fairfield Twp. (June 15): 5,83110. Stormy weather puts ‘Transformers’ movie shoot on hold (June 25): 3,88411. ‘Transformers’ movie action dampened by storms (June 26): 3,702The next installment of the action-movie franchise featuring robot/semi character Optimus Prime, above, had its urban scenes shot in the Detroit area, but when the filmmakers sought out a straight stretch of road with cornfields on either side, they came to southern Lenawee County in June and July. While stormy weather delayed the shoot — and fans crowded the nearby roads to try to catch a glimpse of the action — the high-speed chase along M-52 finally took place, with pyrotechnics blasting clouds of dirt into the air along the road.

3. Sand Creek's Miller to play football at Michigan (July 31): 4,644When Sand Creek High School graduate Garrett Miller announced he would play on the University of Michigan football team, U-M fans read the story, thanks to the interest in Wolverine recruiting and posts on U-M fan blogs. The freshman defensive lineman was assigned number 93 but did not see game action during the 2013 season.

4. Health officials investigate illness from Tough Mudder event (July 3): 4,567Shortly after the endurance event at Michigan International Speedway took place June 29-30, people began reporting being sick. An investigation by health officials found a single person already infected with norovirus is believed to have spread the sickness among more than 200 of the 22,000 participants. The highly contagious disease could have been spread as simply as by coughing, or someone may have vomited or had diarrhea in one of the race course’s mud pits, according to state health officials who investigated the norovirus outbreak.

5. Fresh-cut and live Christmas trees appeal to senses and family nostalgia (Nov. 24): 4,234A guide to buying Christmas trees accompanied this look at what makes real Christmas trees so appealing.

6. Seen on Scene: 2013 Relay for Life (Aug. 10): 4,230This year the Telegram started an online photo feature called “Seen on Scene.” The galleries are candid shots taken by our photographers at various events, and the photos from the 2013 Relay for Life at Adrian High School was the most popular.

7. Adrian’s Mission Pointe Golf Course to close (Dec. 11): 4,178ProMedica’s announcement that the golf course on M-52 formerly called Centerview Golf Course would have its last day of business today drew several hits from the posting on our Facebook page. The Toledo-based health care system that owns Bixby and Herrick hospitals in Adrian and Tecumseh bought the property in 2011 with the intent to develop it in the future.

8. Seen on Scene: Friday at the Faster Horses Festival (July 19): 4,106The inaugural country music Faster Horses Festival drew thousands of fans to Michigan International Speedway in July for a three-day weekend of fun, and photos from those concerts drew thousands of clicks on lenconnect.com.

9. Hooligan’s Grill in downtown Adrian to open Friday (Feb. 25): 3,980Hooligan’s Grill opened on March 1 where the Barley House Tavern had been. Its opening was widely anticipated by those looking for a new dining option in downtown Adrian.

12. Chipotle restaurant planned for South Main Street (March 6): 3,550The Adrian Planning Commission voted to approve — with contingencies — the site plan for a new building at 1421 S. Main Street to house a Chipotle Mexican Grill and an as yet undetermined retail outlet. The property was formerly the site of a Long John Silver’s restaurant. The property is owned by Doug Baumgartner and his father, Don Baumgartner, both of Holland, Ohio. Plans for the new building were still being drawn in September.

13. “Fashion big-box tenant,” renovations planned at Adrian Mall (June 19): 3,527An unnamed fashion retailer signed a letter of intent to move into the Adrian Mall sometime in mid-2014. That store will take up part of the space formerly occupied by Sears. Hobby Lobby moved from its old location on South Main Street into another part of the former Sears store.

14. Clinton punches ticket to state championship game (Nov. 24): 3,363Clinton High School’s varsity football team defeated Shelby 49-3 in the state semifinals to make its first trip to the state finals. The season ended with a loss at Ford Field, but the 13-1 season was the best in school history.

15. Adrian properties demolished (Oct. 25): 3,314A pair of buildings in Adrian, the former Dick’s Amoco East gas station at the corner of North Main and Front streets, and the former New Focus Clubhouse at 1220 N. Main St., were torn down in October. The New Focus site will be used for a new medical and dental facility being built by the Family Medical Center of Michigan. The gas station site is part of a commercial rehabilitation site, meaning the city can offer tax breaks for redevelopment of those properties.

Top 10 police/fire stories of 2013:

1. Mount Clemens teen dies in two-car crash (Nov. 2): 25,426 pageviewsJordon Kelter, 16, of Mount Clemens died Nov. 2 from injuries sustained in a crash that morning at the intersection of M-52 and U.S. 12. The driver and four other passengers of the car Kelter was in and the driver of the other car were all injured.

2. Woman dies in parking lot (Feb. 10): 21,325Linda Guzman, 59, died from injuries she sustained after she was pinned between two vehicles after a van driven by 89-year-old John Ellis struck one of the other vehicles. Ellis was sentenced to probation and ordered to stop driving.

3. Onsted philanthropist Hubbard struck, killed while crossing road (Nov. 14): 20,572Businessman Phil Hubbard, 78, died after being struck by a car while crossing the road at his home on Onsted Highway.

4. Two children in serious condition from Onsted bus crash (Oct. 16): 13,249A pickup leaving the Springs Party Store on U.S. 223 collided with an Onsted school bus, seriously injuring two students on the bus and the pickup’s driver, Tyler Smith of Onsted. In all, 15 people involved in the crash were treated at ProMedica Bixby Hospital in Adrian.

5. Suspect jailed after allegedly strangling one man to death, stabbing another (Oct. 5): 13,226A soldier on leave from the U.S. Army was arrested and charged with strangling one man to death and stabbing another in the shoulder at a mobile home in Raisin Township. Brian James-Mabessa Gogue has pleaded not guilty to the charges that he killed Joel Krutsch and stabbed Scott Fernandez.

6. Husband speaks about Hudson death investigation (Oct. 5): 12,818Steve Tausch of Hudson returned home on Oct. 4 from working out of state to find his wife, Judy, dead on the back porch of their home.

6. Police raid massage parlor, arrest two on prostitution charges (Feb. 12): 12,818Police raided Spa Misty, 4600 W. U.S. 223, and arrested two women on prostitution charges. The two women pleaded guilty to misdemeanor charges and were released on probation.

7. Adrian bank robbed Monday (Dec. 16): 11,178The Old National Bank branch on South Main Street was robbed by a man armed with a handgun at about 12:45 p.m. A short while later, the same man robbed a Bank of America branch in Dundee.

8. One killed, one hurt in Friday rollover crash (Oct. 28): 10,103Christopher Michael McGuire, 36, of Onsted died and Robert Cervantes of Belleville was injured in a rollover crash along Hallenbeck Highway south of U.S. 223.

9. Jail inmate found dead; suicide suspected (Nov. 13): 9,641Daniel Pitts, 34, of Clinton died from self-inflicted slashing wounds after he was found harming himself by Lenawee County Jail staff. Pitts had been in jail since Jan. 4 on multiple charges of first-degree criminal sexual conduct for alleged abuse of a girl in Clinton. He had been scheduled for trial in January.